Conventional utility poles are manufactured using one of two alternative constructions. Historically they have been either hard or soft wood poles, but with modern manufacturing techniques thin wall steel poles are also becoming more common. The majority of such poles are employed in either telecommunications or electrical power transmission.
In order to fix faults or to assess the condition of attachments at the top of the pole, it is often necessary for servicemen to scale the pole and work near the top. In the case of a steel pole this can be accomplished in one of two ways: either by use of a ladder, or by use of steps integrated with the pole itself. The disadvantage to using ladders is that they can be unstable and sometimes not long enough. Therefore the risk of falling from the pole is higher. With wooden poles the use of ladders or the provision of steps is not necessary, because the servicemen are generally able to scale the pole using clamp-ons and a safety strap.
Increasingly suppliers are requesting that steel pole manufacturers supply their poles with steps already attached, in order to avoid the problems associated with ladders. From the manufacturers perspective this poses a difficulty, due to the additional cost associated with integrating steps with the pole. Typically this may add up to 20% or more to the production cost of a 40 foot distribution pole, thus putting the steel pole manufacturers at a distinct disadvantage to their wood pole counterparts.
The alternatives for attaching pole steps range from a nut welded to the side of the pole, to a complicated four piece arrangement, shown in FIG. 1, involving a shaped washer 1, a shaped bolt 2, a welded or riveted nut 3 and a pressed steel step 4. These arrangements are hardly ideal, they are often very unstable, and in some cases are quite unsafe to work on. Also as previously mentioned, a part, that is the nut 3 part, needs to be attached to each pole when manufactured, adding additional costs, and thereby reducing profit margins.
Moreover, there is also a need for bracket devices incorporating an operating member such as, a suspension bracket which is used for example for suspending fiber optic cables, or some other type of line hardware fitting, which can be easily installed and removed from steel utility poles, concrete utility poles incorporating a thin wall section for bracket attachment, or other thin wall section structures.